Twelve days before Election Day 2008, my fiancee and I had purchased our first home. It was a distressed property, but we had put together a plan for rehabbing it before moving in. We'd even left room to spare in our schedule to account for the unexpected.
But even our cushion hadn't prepared us for the missing floor beams we had found (or rather not found) underneath the pet-damaged particle board floors that we had known about. Countless other problems -- some small and some large -- had accumulated, and so, when Election Night rolled around, we were huddled up in the bedroom: The only truly habitable room in the house.
The cable had gotten installed on schedule, but we weren't able to set up the TV because that section of the house was still covered in sawdust and waiting for the new floor to get installed. So I followed election night on my laptop: Dancing back and forth between CNN, MSNBC, DailyKos, and fivethirtyeight.
My fiancee stayed up with me for several hours, but she eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion. So when California's polls closed and the election was called, I remember waking her up with a gentle shake and saying, oh so simply, "We won."
And then I sat in my office chair -- my legs propped up on a rickety futon -- and watched Obama's acceptance speech. If I had to pluck one particular memory out of all that, it would be watching Jesse Jackson tear up in Grant Park and realizing how transformative the moment truly was.
My story is not that dissimilar, I suppose, from many others. But that, in itself, is fascinating to me.
"Where were you when JFK was assassinated?"
It was a question that unified the entire nation in tragedy and mourning. It was a touchstone for an entire generation. It was a moment that transformed the nation and the world.
On November 4th, 2008, Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. And once again an entire generation was both transformed and brought together by the tides of history. We turned from a crisis of confidence and became a generation forged by hope.
"Where were you on the night Obama was elected president?"
The question has whispered its way from one ear to the next and that moment – shared in so many disparate shards of experience – has become a touchstone.
I've become interested in pursuing a semi-documentary project in which I'll creatively explore the gestalt of that moment. I'm interested in hearing the collection of stories from around the nation united by a common time, a common context, and a common spirit.
In short, I'd like to hear your story from Election Night 2008: Where were you? What happened? What will live on in your memory?
Post a comment and let me know. Recommend the diary to let more people share their own experiences.
(Please note: Although I'm looking for raw material to use in developing a creative work, I will not use your name as part of the project without obtaining separate permission. However, if you respond to this diary, it will be understood that you are giving me permission to use what you post.)